by Kaylea Cross
Her lips quirked and if he wasn’t mistaken she smothered a laugh as she turned back to the stove. “You and I have serious trust issues to work through, Maguire.”
“Yeah. But I’m willing to put in the work to get through them.” He closed the distance between them and settled his hands on her waist. Her abs contracted beneath his fingers but she didn’t push him away as she scooped eggs onto a plate and handed it to him.
“Just eat your breakfast and behave yourself.”
He couldn’t resist leaning in to run his nose up the side of her neck. “You smell so damn good,” he murmured, gratified when goosebumps rose on her skin, her nipples hardening to points beneath her T-shirt. He resisted the urge to touch them, allowed himself only three soft kisses along her neck before letting her go and reaching for the cupboard to get mugs out. “Do you really like your coffee black?”
“Yes.” She aimed him a sideways glance, her eyes laughing at him. “Why would I have lied about that?”
“I dunno why you Valkyries do the things you do,” he answered, filling both mugs and carrying them to the table. She came over with two plates of scrambled eggs and sat across from him.
It was so much like before, the quiet intimacy of sharing breakfast with her, just the two of them. Except now they knew each other’s deepest secrets, so the intimacy was ten times as intense. He held out his fork. “Cheers.”
A slow smile curved her mouth. He’d done this every time they’d eaten together in whatever hotel they had stayed in. “Cheers.” She tapped her fork to his and dug in, her eyes warm as she gazed at him.
Taking that as a good sign, he started the conversation with something non-personal. “Where are the others?”
“Stayed at different places last night. Safer if we all split up for the moment.”
“Any word on the driver last night, or Bennett’s killer?”
“Not yet. Trinity said she’d call when she’s got something for us.”
“Yeah?” He gave her a heated look that was only partially teasing. “How long do we have, do you think?”
She wagged her fork at him. “Not long enough for what you’re thinking.”
He blinked in mock surprise. “What am I thinking?”
“X-rated things.”
She wasn’t wrong. “You sleep okay last night?”
“Pretty well. You?”
“I was out cold.” And she didn’t look like she’d slept that well. She had shadows under her eyes. What time had she left the bed?
“What?’ she asked when he kept staring at her.
“Tell me something about you that’s different from how you were before with me.”
She considered it for a moment. “I don’t like flashy clothes. I prefer this look.” She tugged at the snug T-shirt she filled out beautifully. “It’s comfy and practical.”
“Hmm. And you’re definitely shier than you were before.” When they’d first met she’d posed as a classy, breezy, and stylish flight attendant. Elegant clothes, sophisticated makeup. In reality she was far more subdued.
Her lashes lowered, a slight flush turning her cheeks pink. “I can’t be when I’m on a job, but… Yes.”
It was charming. And adorable. “I never would have guessed.”
Those gorgeous amber eyes lifted to meet his. “Never would have guessed you were an introvert.”
That made him chuckle. “Touché. What else?”
“I hate wearing makeup. And heels. God, I hate heels.”
“You wore them every day we were together,” he said in surprise.
“I know, but I always ditched them as fast as I could, and I usually got a nice foot rub out of the deal for my troubles.”
A startled laugh burst out of him. “You were using me for foot rubs, too?”
“You give awesome foot rubs, and I told you, while I was with you I got to be a different version of me. The one I never got to be in real life,” she said with a smile, then sobered. “Tell me the truth. Are you disappointed with the real me?”
He would have laughed, but her expression was dead serious…and there was concern lurking in her eyes he wanted to erase forever. “No. In fact I prefer this version a hundred times more. The other you would have bankrupted me eventually,” he teased. “All those fancy hotels and dinners and room service.”
They shared a smile, remembering how it had been, then her phone rang. She pulled it out and answered, her expression turning grave. “And Bennett?” She listened a moment. “Okay, understood. Eighty minutes. Bye.”
“Trinity?” he asked as she set the phone down.
“Yes. The Tesla driver made it a few blocks from the scene of the accident before a cop found her.”
“Her?”
“Yes. They took her to the hospital, but she died on the operating table from internal injuries.”
The news surprised him, and was also cause for concern. That woman had definitely been gunning for them last night, or Eden at least. On the plus side, there weren’t a lot of female hitters around, so maybe she’d be easier to ID. “Any idea who she was?”
“Not yet. Amber’s looking into it, along with Kiyomi.”
“Maybe she killed Bennett.”
“Maybe. Chances are she’s connected to his death in some way if she was waiting for us when we left the building. Anyway, we can’t stay in the city any longer, there may be other hitters coming for us, and the cops definitely will be. Trinity’s scheduled a flight for us eighty minutes from now at a small airport outside of town.”
“Where are we going?”
“Back to the UK. Rycroft’s team and Amber are working on altering the flight plan and route to confuse anyone who might be on to us and hoping to follow.”
Good. Because they couldn’t risk leading anyone back to base.
Eden stood and grabbed her plate. “We need to sanitize this place.”
He leaned over to grab her arm before she could turn away. “Wait.” He took the plate from her and set it on the table. “I’ll help you wipe everything down in a minute. But first, come here a sec.”
Ignoring her protests, he tugged her around the small table and drew her onto his lap. She was rigid at first, but when he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her in close, his chin resting on her shoulder, she slowly relaxed. “I really do like the real you better than the fake you,” he murmured against her hair. “The real you has the best of both versions.”
She grumbled, clearly uncomfortable with the compliment, then sighed and leaned into him more. “We’re all in danger now, especially the others and me, and I don’t want you hurt or killed because of what you’ve been dragged into.”
“I wasn’t dragged into anything, I volunteered.”
“Before you knew the whole truth of what’s going on.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. You matter.”
“And you don’t?” Bullshit to that. He’d—
She pushed up to glare down at him, her eyes blazing with frustration…and a hint of fear. “Don’t you get it? We’re up against an unknown threat from a faceless enemy with powerful connections, unlike anyone you’ve ever confronted before. You have family that care about you. I don’t. No one will miss me if I die. The others and I, we’re…”
He put a hand over her mouth to stop her from continuing, afraid the word expendable had been about to come out. She wasn’t fucking expendable, and neither were the others.
“I’d miss you, goddammit,” he fired back, outraged that she would ever think she mattered so little to anyone, least of all him. “Don’t you get that? I don’t ever want to hear you say that shit again. That’s Agency bullshit, drilled into you by the same people who made you into a weapon they could use and dispose of when it suited them. Fuck that. Fuck them.”
Her anger faded, the look in her eyes replaced by something bordering on exhaustion. “Zack, you don’t know me. Not really. And you don’t know the things I’ve done. If you knew the truth…”
He wasn’t going to listen to any bullshit excuses she threw out to put distance between them. “We’ve both done things we’d rather forget in service to our country. But I know and admire the most important things about you.” She looked away but he took her face in his hands, forced her to look at him. “I know you’re brave and smart and determined, and that I got to see a softer, freer side of you that no one ever has before.”
Her eyes filled with torment at the last part, but she didn’t deny it.
She’d let him in that much before. He needed her to let him in completely now. “So you’re not a saint, and guess what, neither am I. But I know you’re dedicated and talented, beautiful, sexy, and loyal. And that’s more than enough.” It had to be enough.
She closed her eyes. “Zack…”
He slid a hand to her nape, drew her head down so her cheek was pressed to his. “You matter, Eden. To me as well as the others. And if you think I’d walk away from you when you need me most, then you don’t know me at all.”
She groaned and gripped his shoulders, squeezing tight. “Wanna know something about me that I really hate?”
Yes. He nuzzled her. “What?”
“Crying. So if you make me cry right now, I’ll punch you in the face.”
It shocked a laugh out of him, then he kissed her cheek. “Thanks for the warning. But just remember what I said, okay?” He took her chin in his hand, tipped her face up to search her eyes. “I’m not leaving you. No matter what you say or do.” And he had a feeling she’d fight this more before everything was said and done.
A tiny smile tugged at her mouth, and a spark of hope ignited deep in his chest. “You’re probably gonna regret this.”
“No way.” He kissed her, savoring the feel of her lips, rediscovering the real Eden for a few stolen moments before pulling back. “Come on. Let’s get this place wiped down and get outta here.”
They grabbed their things, wiped down every room they’d been in, then stuffed the sheets into a garbage bag to take with them. They paid special attention to anything they might have left prints on: light switches, buttons, door handles.
He checked their exterior perimeter to ensure it was safe, then went into the garage and got in the car with her. She navigated while he drove, using a custom app on her phone that showed other team members’ locations. “Trinity’s got the others with her. She’ll be turning in behind us in another two blocks.”
Sure enough, as he passed the intersection two blocks up, a gray minivan appeared behind them. “That her?”
“Yes.”
They drove straight for the small airport twenty minutes away, still in the metro area. Only a few cars were in the lot, small planes sitting on the tarmac near the little terminal building. There was no sign of their jet. “When’s our ride coming?”
“Soon.” She searched the surrounding sky.
He pulled through the open gate and headed for the parking lot. Trinity had just pulled in behind them when the screech of tires made him snap his head around.
A black Camaro was racing straight at them.
Zack cursed and cranked the wheel.
The tires squealed on the pavement as he spun them in a tight circle. But just as he aimed for the exit, the barrel of a rifle appeared through the Camaro’s open side window and opened fire.
Chapter Seventeen
One moment the barrel of the rifle appeared through the Camaro’s window. The next, Eden was yanked facedown in Zack’s lap.
Bullets peppered the back of the car as Zack sped away, shattering the rear window and windshield. She shifted to draw her weapon but Zack’s hand on the back of her neck kept her cheek pinned to his thigh.
“Stay down,” he growled, ducking down in his seat as he raced through the lot, trying to see through the fractured windshield.
Eden twisted free, leaned back and slammed the soles of her boots against the ruined windshield. She kicked it twice, three times, until it finally came loose. She shoved it out with one last push, and it flew over the hood as Zack took a hard left. “Where are the others?”
“Headed for the other exit. Another car’s behind them.”
Shit. She risked sitting up enough to see in the side mirror. The Camaro was racing after them. “How did they know we were here?”
“No fucking idea.” He swerved through the gate and shot across the road, cutting off traffic. Horns blared and tires screeched. Zack hammered the brake to avoid slamming into a car and veered left, trying to get them free.
He shot through the next intersection, leaning on the horn to make the stopped traffic move out of their way. “Come on. Come on, dammit, move!”
Eden turned around in her seat to look behind them. The Camaro whipped down a side street and disappeared from view. “They’re gonna come at us from the right somewhere up ahead.”
“Not if they can’t find us.” Zack took the next left turn and gunned it through a fresh green light.
Eden searched around. Were they in the clear? “I don’t see them—”
The Camaro shot out in front of them from another side street.
Zack cursed and jerked the wheel, but the Camaro rammed into their back right quarter panel, spinning them around. The squeal of tires and the deep blast of a rig’s horn was Eden’s only warning, then they slammed into the side of a semi cab.
Stars exploded before her eyes as the seatbelt snapped hard across her chest and hips, the back of her head hitting the headrest a split-second later.
“Eden,” Zack said urgently.
“I’m fine,” she said, reaching down to unbuckle the seatbelt. They were pinned in now, unable to drive away. Where was the Camaro? Where was—
Zack grabbed her around the ribs and yanked her sideways out of the car. “Get behind the engine block!”
They dove for cover behind the front of the hood just as shots rang out, pummeling the opposite side of the car. People were screaming now, leaping out of their vehicles and racing for the sidewalk, the frightened masses scattering in all directions.
“How far away?” Eden asked him as she scrambled up on one knee, poised behind the engine block. It would provide them a decent amount of cover for a bit longer, but they couldn’t stay here. Cut off from their teammates and all alone with a rifleman closing in, they were sitting ducks. “Did you see?”
“Out of pistol range.” His gray gaze met hers. “We’re gonna have to run for it and fight our way out.”
The gravity of it settled deep inside her. She’d been in danger before, had escaped death many times, but this moment was different. Before, she’d always been alone. Before, she’d never had anyone else to worry about. Now there was Zack. And she didn’t want him to die. Not like this, not in front of her, and not when he was in this mess because of her.
Eden tensed and ducked lower as a spray of bullets raked across the hood and punched into the side of the rig.
“You head around the front of the rig on three,” Zack told her, his face set, gaze intense. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Cold speared her gut at the way he said it. Like he had every intention of staying behind to make sure she got clear. Like he was prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure she lived. “Don’t you dare do anything stupid or heroic.”
“You go on three, and I’ll cover you. One.” He put a hand on the center of her back. “Two.” He shifted behind her, so close she could feel the warmth of his body, and she prayed it wasn’t the last time she would ever feel it. “Three.”
He shoved her forward, but she was already moving, sprinting around the front of the rig’s cab. Bullets plowed into the side of it, missing her by inches. Pedestrians screamed and panicked, clogging the sidewalk.
More shots rang out, hitting metal somewhere behind her. She shoved through a knot of people cowering in front of an alley and ran for cover behind the corner of the first building she came to. As soon as she was out of view she risked a glance behind her, looking for Zack.
He wasn’t there.
“Goddamn you, Zack,” she whispered, terror flooding her. She stayed behind cover, coming up with a new plan. No way would she keep running if he was still back there, and she didn’t have time to try and contact Trinity and the others to ask for backup.
Dammit. She snuck another peek around the corner, but still couldn’t see him. Was he okay, or had he been shot? Oh, Jesus, please not that—
More shots rang out, telling her he was still alive, but pinned down somewhere. She eased forward, ready to break from cover and attempt a rescue mission, but caught a blur of motion at the edge of her peripheral vision. Her heart careened in her chest when she saw Zack dart out from behind another truck and race toward her.
“Go!” he yelled, waving her forward with one hand, pistol in the other. “Two shooters! They’ve split up, one on either side!”
She spun and ran down the alley, reassured when his racing footsteps echoed behind her seconds later. Another street loomed up ahead. She slowed as she reached the corner of the building, pressed her back to the side of it as Zack raced up beside her.
Lightning quick, Eden ducked around to check the alley. Bits of concrete exploded inches from her head.
Zack yanked her backward so hard she fell on her ass, heart hammering. Shit, that had been close. But those bullets hadn’t come from a rifle. The sound hadn’t been right.
He grabbed her head in his hands, searched her face. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Shooter’s to the right, hiding between the wall and a Dumpster. Pistol, not a rifle.”
He glanced behind them down the alley they’d just run up. “Other one’s going to come in behind us, try to box us in.”
Well, there was no way they were making it back the way they’d come with a rifle trained on them. That left them only one option if they didn’t want to stay here and wait to get shot. “We’ll take this shooter out, then run like hell before the one with the rifle shows up.” They had no idea where the other shooter was, but probably close. They might only have seconds to get out of here.
